Your point is valid but would only work if every club in the league is and was managed correctly. Unfortunately as we’ve seen in the past number of years clubs have been reckless with their money and their treatment of players so who’s to say that UCD don’t deserve their place in the league despite their lack of support?

They might not bring big numbers of support to games but you can always count that they’ll be able to fulfill a fixture in a season, unlike some other clubs.

]]>By: Gullyborghttp://backpagefootball.com/dave-barry-unfair-and-wrong/45922/#comment-218729
Tue, 24 Jul 2012 05:49:49 +0000http://backpagefootball.com/?p=45922#comment-218729Didn’t Dave Barry win a Pulitzer prize?
]]>By: John Clarkehttp://backpagefootball.com/dave-barry-unfair-and-wrong/45922/#comment-218669
Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:23:53 +0000http://backpagefootball.com/?p=45922#comment-218669Every club in League of Ireland relies on the attendance through the turnstiles to fund a large part of their operation. At the most recent game against UCD in the Showgrounds I counted 12 people in the away end. That means that the UCD squad was larger than their support. Looking at this from the point of view of professional club like Sligo Rovers who are paying a large staff of players, management and administrators it is hard to fathom what contribution that UCD make to the league. I have attended UCD home games where the away support has equalled or surpassed that of the home side. Clearly no side operating as a professional club could survive with that sort of support.

I am aware of the work the Sligo Rovers do in the community and have seen the consequence of that work in the support levels. Rather than praising UCD for their work perhaps you should question what they are doing wrong in that they cannot reap a dividend in attendance from the same work.

Dave Barrys comments regarding the players and their pressures has whether you wish to admit it or not a certain validity. The pressure on a worker in any industry where your livelyhood is under threat has got to be enormous as opposed to someone who has no financial dependance on it.

I don’t think that anyone doubts that UCD have the playing ability to acquit themselves in the League of Ireland as they have done over many years. The real nub of the matter is what they contribute to the overall viability of the league and in my opinion that is far less than they take out of it.